The present invention is related to a method and apparatus for plating semiconductor chip headers in general and, in particular, to a method and apparatus for selectively plating the die-attach area of a header only.
The plating of the die-attach area of a semiconductor chip header typically requires the use of a precious metal, such as gold. In spite of the fact that the die-attach area extends over but a limited area of the top of a header, it has been the practice heretofore, to plate the entire header or at least a substantial part of its top and sides. Since only the die-attach area need be plated to satisfy current state-of-the-art technology, an obvious savings in precious metals is obtainable by restricting the use of such metals to that area.